A parliamentary committee has passed along nearly every objection by Quebec MPs to the province proposed boundaries.
The report from the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, tabled Monday in the House of Commons, supported 13 members but not Bloc MP Maria Mourani (Ahuntsic), who wanted to keep the status quo on the Island of Montreal.
Quebec’s federal boundary commission can consider the requests, but holds the final say on the map sent to Elections Canada in advance of the 2015 election.
Quebec's three new ridings are slated for the suburbs of Montreal, according to the plan tabled in February. The original proposal also called for an extra riding within Montreal itself, with the Gaspé region losing an MP. But there was widespread opposition, including NDP and Liberal officials who didn't want an extra seat "at the expense of Eastern Quebec."
Another proposal to use historic Quebec names for newly-redrawn ridings, such as Maurice Richard and Paul Sauvé, was also abandoned in the final report.
MAP: Quebec
MAP: Island of Montreal and Laval
MAP: Quebec City
There were changes to riding maps, but many of the more radical proposals were shelved in the face of public opposition.
Here are the objections from MPs submitted by the procedure committee. Many members cited support from local residents and municipal officials:
Maxime Bernier (Beauce) wants two municipalities removed from Beauce, wants Saint-Robert-Bellarmin and Saint-Ludger kept in riding, and Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzonin assigned to Lévis--Lotbinière.
Steven Blaney (Lévis--Bellechasse) wants to keep nine municipalities in Les Etchemins in his riding: Lac-Etchemin, Saint-Camille-de-Lellis, Saint-Cyprien, Sainte-Aurélie, Sainte-Justine, Sainte-Rose-de-Watford, Sainte-Sabine, Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, Saint-Luc-de-Bellechasse and Saint-Magloire. The new riding would be called Lévis—Bellechasse—Les Etchemins.
François Lapointe (Montmagny--L'Islet--Kamouraska--Rivière-du-Loup): wants riding name maintained instead of Montmagny—Rivière-du-Loup.
Francine Raynault (Joliette): the Communauté Atikamekw de Manawan wants to remain in her riding rather than move to Saint-Maurice.
Anne Minh-Thu Quach (Beauharnois--Salaberry) prefers Suroît to the proposed riding name of Salaberry.
Jamie Nicholls (Vaudreuil--Soulanges) wants a name change to Vaudreuil--Soulanges-Est, and wants Sainte-Justine-de-Newton, Très-Saint-Rédempteur and Sainte-Marthe grouped together.
Guy Caron (Rimouski--Neigette-Témiscouata--Les Basques) wants a name change from Rimouski to Centre-du-Bas-Saint-Laurent.
Jean-François Fortin (Haute-Gaspésie--La Mitis--Matane--Matapédia) wants a name change to Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia.
Philip Toone (Gaspésie--Îles-de-la-Madeleine) wants to keep his riding name instead of Gaspésie-les-Îles.
Sana Hassainia (Verchères--Les Patriotes) is seeking a name change to Boucher—Verchères—Les Patriotes.
Lise St-Denis (Saint-Maurice--Champlain) and Massimo Pacetti (Saint-Léonard--Saint-Michel) would like to maintain their riding names instead of Saint-Maurice and Saint-Léonard—Villeray, respectively.
Louis Plamondon (Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour) wants his riding renamed Saurel—Nicoleet—Bécancour to reflect changes to municipal names.
Meanwhile, Mourani called the new plan a "sociological, historical and human aberration" and objected to the commission's plan for Saint-Laurent and Sault-au-Récollet in Montreal.
Quebec three additional seats will bring the province's total to 78. With a population of 7.9 million listed in the 2011 census, that averages out to 101,321 residents per riding.
-Andrew Thomson
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